Door operating mechanism



Feb 2, l -B. F. FITCH i v Doon OPERATING MECHANISM Filed Sept. 15, 1934 2 sheets-sheet 1 Feb. 2, 1937. B. F. FITCH 2,069,237

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Patented Feb. 2, 193? UNI-TE STATES Arr OFFICE DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM Application September 15, i934, Serial No. 744,213

2 Claims.

A system of handling package freight by means of demountable bodies which `may be carried on-highway trucks or vessels and lifted intact with their loads to a railway car for intermediate rail transport-ation, and thereafter transferred at the distant end to a truck or vessel for ultimate delivery, has many advantages, reducing cost of shipping from consignor to consignee, reducing the time involved, and

reducing the loss due to pilferage or breakage.

In a system of this kind, it is important that the doors, preferably on both the ends and the sides of the container, be of Wide extent to enable the loading or unloading, and at the same time be hinged to the body of the container in such a manner as to act to enable a tight connection with the door frame when closed.

'I'he prim-ary object of the present invention is to provide an efficient mechanism to positively shift the closed door in a vertical plane, whereby it may be caused to make a tight connection with the door frame at the top or bottom or both, and on the other hand, may, whenever desired, be positively moved in the opposite direction to 25 release the door. I accomplish this by so hinging the door that it is cap-able of a limited vertical movement; by arranging the upper and/or lower end of the door and corresponding portions of the door jamb to form a seat which may be engaged consequent upon such vertical movement of the door, and by providing manual mechanism operative in the region of the hinge axis to positively cause such movement of the door.

The invention is hereinafter more fully explained in connection with a preferred embodiment thereof illustrated in the drawings, and the essential features are summarized in the claims.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a demountable body having side doors embodying the invention; Fig. 2 is an end View of such a body, illustrating the application of my invention to the end doors; Fig. 3 is an enlarged section through one of the doors in its closed position, taken along the lines 3 3 on Figs. l and 2; Fig. 4 is a similar section illustrating the door in a closed position, but after it has been lowered from the tightly fitting position shown in Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary elevation of a po-rtion of the body illustrating the tightly closed position of the doors; Fig. 6 is a view, similar to Fig. 5, illustrating the lowered position of the door; Fig. 7 is a sectional view illustrating the bottom hinge, the plane of the section being indicated by the line 1 1 on Fig. 5; Fig. 8 is a horizontal section taken substantially along the line 8 8 on Fig. 6, illustrating the position of the hinge parts and door operating mechanism when the door is being 5 opened.

In Figs. 1 and 2, I have illustrated a demountable body, having a floor frame I0, side walls Il, narrow end walls I2 and a roof I3. The body is suiciently reinforced by suitable braces secured to its sides. Each side is provided with a pair of lift hooks It, extending above the eaves and suitably braced by downwardly extending straps. Such hooks may readily be eng-aged by a suitable hoisting mechanism to facilitate the raising or lowering of the body.

Each side of the body, as well as each end, is provide with a central doorway in the region between the corners, adapted to be closed by swinging doors i5, -arranged in pairs and being hinged to the door frames by suitable hinges I6.

While the present invention is concerned particularly with mechanism associated with the hinges to positively raise and lower the doors, the frame of the body is especially designed to provide seats for the raised door. It is accordingly most convenient to describe the construction of the body itself and especially the door frame before taking up the door moving mechanism.

The floor frame lll of the body construction comprises end and longitudinal sills and internal bracing. An end sill is shown in Figs. 3 and 4 in the form of a channel 20. A lower layer of flooring 2i rests on this end sill. The bottom member of the door jamb preferably takes the form of a Z-bar 25, one leg of which is secured to the channel sill member 2B. The web 26 of the Z-bar extends across the edge of the ooring 2| and the other leg 2l thereof extends upwardly along the edge of a surumounting layer of 40 planking 22. The extreme top edge of the door jamb is flanged diagonally downward to form a lip, as shown at 28. A similar metal lip 29 is secured to the bottom of each door andr coacts with a lip member 28 throughout the width of the door, as will be hereinafter more fully described.

Gver each doorway is a metal sheet 30, which also forms the wall of the body. 'I'he upper door jamb comprises a strip of metal 3|, which is 50 secured to the wall member 30 on the outer face thereof. This metal strip 3l is then bent inwardly and upwardly yaround the lower edge of the plate 30 in a U-shaped formation, and again anged inwardly, as at 32, and downwardly as at 33, forming -a downwardly facing door seat. The inward flange 32 of the jamb is reinforced by a longitudinal angle 3d, engaging the inner surface of the sheet 36 and the top of the jamb portion 32. On the outer side of the body is a reinforcing bar 35 in the form of a horizontal Z-bar having a downward and an upward flange. The parts are all riveted together, the same rivets passing through the upper flange of the Z-bar 35, thence through the door jamb member 3l, thence through the plate 3B and finally through the angle bar 34.

The end walls l2 of the body, heretofore referred to, comprise outer sheets which are connected to the sides ii by vertical corner bars I9. The end sheets may also be braced by suitable inner sheets lo, Fig. 7, which are flanged at their outer ends and secured to the side walls Il and then near their inner ends are bent inwardly at l2, and finally flanged at 'i3 into the plane of the sheet i2. As shown, a sheet l5, forming a continuation of the sheet l2, passes over the flange '13, and then is doubled back onto the rear face of that iiange and finally lies alongside of the portion 'l2 of the plate l', as shown at lt. The inner sheet 'i and outer sheet 'l5 are spaced in the region of the door frame by vertically extending channels il and 13, the latter channel bearing against the inner face of the flanged portion l2 of the plate l'. The plate l0 and the channels 'll and 'i8 are preferably welded or otherwise secured together.

As shown in Figs. fl, 5 and 7, each door panel is bounded at its edges by a reinforcing member 8U in the form of a channel embracing the door. At the sides of the door adjacent the hinge, this channel has a flange 8l projecting from it at right angles to the door. When the door is closed, as shown in Fig. 7, the face 82 of the reinforcing member engages the inner face of the door jamb member l5, while the projecting ange 8| comes into contact with the rounded member 15, where it is doubled on itself.

It will be seen that the construction above described makes a firm, vertical wall for the body at either side of the door opening, which likewise forms a rigid door jamb having a lip extending across the door opening, the door being arranged to seat behind the lip and abut the edge thereof. It will be observed that the complete door jamb provides one form of seat at the two vertical sides, a different form of seat at the top, and a still different form of seat at the bottom.

At the bottom of the door I secure a bar 29. Such bar extends along the entire lower edge of the door and has an inwardly extending lip which is bent diagonally upward, and engages the lower face of the lip member 28 of the lower door jamb. On the outer face of the `door near the top is secured a horizontal rod 36, which forms a bead or molding. When the door is closed, as shown in Fig. 3, the door is forced upwardly, so that the bead or bar 29 makes a snug engagement with the doubled over edge of the top reinforcing member 3l of the door jamb, while that portion of the door above the bead 29 rests in the seat 32 formed by such reinforcing member. Thus, when the door is in the closed position, it makes a. tight connection at the sides, top and bottom with the door jamb.

Each door panel, as heretofore mentioned, is hinged at its outer edge to the door jamb by suitable hinges IG. As shown, each hinge comprises a member 4l), secured to the end wall of the body and having vertical socket portions 4I, and a member 42 secured to the door panel and having vertical socket portions 3. The member l2 preferably has integral extensions 35 which extend through the door and are welded or otherwise secured to a metal plate 36 forming the inner wall of the door and the door member 80. A pin l5 extends downwardly through the socket portions of eachhinge member @il and 52. The pin d5 is sliclable axially in the hinge member l and retained against sliding movement in the hinge member 42, the sockets of which are axially spaced relative to the sockets of the hinge member 40, whereby the door may be moved vertically relative to the door jamb and the hinge member dll,

I have shown three hinges for each door, the construction of the upper two hinges being substantially identical, while the bottom hinge has, in addition to the construction described, an operating mechanism for positively raising and lowering the door. The axes of the hinges are located in front of the projecting lip 73 of the door `iamb, some distance back of the door panel, when open, as shown in Fig. 8, with the result that when the ldoor is closed, the extreme edge of it extends behind the lip 13, l5.

When the door is to be closed, it is first swung on its hinges into a closed position and then positively raised into engagement with the seat 32 and lip 29 of the door jamb. Likewise, to effect the opening of the door, downward pressure is rst applied to the door to disengage the upper end of the 'door from the seat 32, and to move the lip 29 at the lower edge of the door from engagement with the lip 28 of the door jamb, and the door is then swung on its hinges to an open position.

To effect the vertical movement of the door, I have provided an elevating and depressing mechanism in connection with the bottom hinge of each door. I prefer to apply such mechanism to the bottom hinge of the door as, when in this position, the operation of the mechanism is greatly facilitated. That is, when the body is standing on a platform, the operator, if he be on the platform, may readily operate the mechanism with his foot, or when the body is standing on a truck or railway car, and the operator is standing on the ground, the mechanism is within easy reach of the outstretched arm of the operator.

As shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5, the socket members of each hinge member 40 are spaced apart in the form of a yoke, and the socket members of each hinge member 42 are also in the form of a yoke with its ends, through which the hinge pin passes, aligned with and respectively above and below the corresponding socket portions of the other hinge member. The lower hinge is provided with an operating member 60, which acts on the hinge members of that hinge to raise and lower the door.

The operating member 6l) comprises an arm having at one end a socket portion l which embraces the hinge pin 45, and is secured against movement relative thereto by a pin 62 passing through the socket portion 6l] and engaging the hinge pin. The upper and lower faces of the socket portion 6l of the operating lever G0 are sloped in opposite' directions, as shown at 63 and 64, in Figs. 5 and 6. The lower and upper faces 65 and 66 respectively of the upper and lower fork of the hinge member 4D are likewise sloped'. These surfaces, however, are sloped in the same direction. That is, they are parallel with each other, and are spaced apart a distance equal to the maximum height of the socket member 60.

The cam surfaces 63, B4, 65 and 66 are so arranged that when it is desired to raise the door to a closed position, the lever is swung in a clockwise direction to a position against the doo-r, shownv in Fig. 5. This causes the cam surface 66 of the hinge member to exert a positive upward pressure on the cam surface 63 of the lever 6U, thereby raising the door into position. When the lever is then rotated counter-clockwise through 180 degrees to the position illustrated in Fig. 6, the cam surface exerts a pressure against the cam surface 64 of the lever, lowering the door. Hence, the door is moved upwardly to make a tight seal with the doorway, or is moved downwardly to release such seal by a positive acting mechanism.

The pressure applied in raising the door insures a snug weather-proof fit, both at the top and the bottom, while the pressure applied to lower the door overcomes any tendency of the door to stick that may be occasioned by freight coming in contact with the door, or by slight warping of the parts during the transportation of the body, thereby improving the construction of the body and permitting the use of an improved weather-proof door and door frame construction.

When the doors are closed, their free meeting edges are preferably braced by locking posts Il overlapping both of the doors and engaging keepers I8 on the upper and lower ends of the door frames. Each locking post I6 may comprise a pair of angle bars secured together, back to back, so that one leg of each angle bar may be inserted between the doors and thereby provide a water-proof seal, as well as bracing means for the doors.

I claim:

1. In a container, a door frame having a door hinged thereto on a vertical slidable hinge axis, positively acting mechanism operable from the exterior of the container and by movement rela.- tive to the door for raising and lowering the door when closed without disengaging said hinges, and vertically abutting means adjacent the top and bottom of the doorway, operating when the door is closed and consequent upon movement of the door in one direction by said mechanism, to make tight connections at both the top and bottom of the door.

2. In a container having a doorway, and a door hinged to the container in a manner to enable it to have a certain vertical movement, leverage mechanism adapted to positively lower the door, and a projecting plate at the bottom of the door having an upwardly directed inner edge adapted to lie behind a downwardly projecting flange of the body when the door is raised, said edge being withdrawn from behind the ange when the door is lowered.

BENJANHN F. FITCH. 

